1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus, an image processing method, an image managing apparatus, an image managing method, a computer program product, and an image order sheet. More particularly, the present invention relates to an image processing apparatus and an image processing method for processing an image, an image managing apparatus and an image managing method for managing an image, a computer program product used by the image processing apparatus and the image managing apparatus, and an image order sheet by which a customer can order an image.
2. Related Art
A print order receiving apparatus that can read image data of a customer and into which information for creating a print based on the read image data can be input, in which the image based on the image data is displayed in an image frame section, any portion of the image displayed in the image frame section is enlarged and displayed on an enlarged image frame section, and a box that displays which portion of the image displayed in the image frame section corresponds to the arbitrary enlarged display portion is displayed in the display frame section, is known as in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2001-215626. Furthermore, a phase mask that holds an optical transfer function substantially constant within a certain range from a focal point position is known as in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,748,371 Specification.
When the customer orders a print, it is desirable that the customer be able to determine before ordering whether the image can be printed cleanly. For example, it is not good to print an image in which red-eye occurs, an image in which the contrast is not expressed well, or the like, but in index prints used to select an image to print from many thumbnail images, there are instances where the customer cannot easily see whether red-eye is present or whether the contrast is expressed well because the index image is small. Because of this, it is desirable that at least the important regions of the image have high image quality. Furthermore, according to the technology recorded in U.S. Pat. No. 5,748,371 Specification, an image that is in focus over a wide range can be obtained by reproducing the blur of a blurred image obtained by using a phase mask to capture an image and widen the focal depth. However, because the reproduction process takes time and requires an extremely large amount of computational power, performing the reproduction process in each individual image capturing apparatus is not practical. Furthermore, an artifact occurs more easily when the reproduction process is applied and it is necessary to apply an appropriate correction process depending on the subject, but there are cases where the customer cannot judge whether the reproduction process would be appropriate based on the thumbnail images in the index prints.